There are a few quests pulling you back to Duscae, and one tasking you with venturing all the way back to Galdin Quay. Before you return to the east, however, you might as well make it worth your while by first heading west and clearing up some long overdue quests in Cleigne. This is ideally done by following a specific route and looping back to Lestallum. Questing loops - everybody loves them!

Everyone Loves Beans¶

First stop is Takka’s quest “ Everyone Loves Beans“ , which has been festering in your quest log for long enough. Use the Regalia to drive to the Quest Location for “Everyone Loves Beans” , exit the car and make your way north-west to find the car in the wilderness. Of course, it’s not undefended, as there’s a pack of Havocfangs prowling around. Havocfangs are physically superior to Sabertusks and Voretooths, and while they can poison you just as well as Voretooths did, they can also inflict confusion by roaring. Confusion will reverse Noctis’s movement controls and randomly switch out his weapons, as well as make your companions act erratically. Defeat them to secure the beans, giving you a find excuse to return to Hammerhead… eventually, anyways. The reward is listed below.

Rachsia Bridge¶

More quest beckon to the south, in the outpost of Old Lestallum, but there’s a stop you should make first, even if it requires a bit of a backtrack. Drive north up the road to reach the Tollhends Stronghold Parking Spot, which is between the Coernix Bypass Parking Spot further north and the Old Lestallum outpost. From here drive down a nearby road to the south-west to reach a bridge crossing the river, at which point you should hop out of the Regalia and head offroad to the north to find Tabby’s Tackle Shack, which sells all kinds of interesting fishing gear, including new lures and a new rod (Butterfly Edge) and a new reel (Galatea). Buy the lures and the Galatea reel if you’ve got the will and the Gil, but ignore the Butterfly Edge, as you’ll get one of those for free soon enough. Once done, you can test you mettle over at the nearby Rachsia Bridge Fishing Spot.

Tabby’s Tackle Shack (Leisure Goods)

Old Lestallum¶

Return to the Regalia and drive to the Old Lestallum Parking Spot, which should have been added to your map by gaining intel from restaurateurs in Lestallum.

This outpost has a few things worth checking out, but the first place you should stop off is the Crow’s Nest Diner (the original, in fact!). Update your map with fresh intel to cause some new Campgrounds, Parking Spots and Outposts to pop up on your map. If you have more money than sense you can drop 7,200 Gil on Kenny’s “Special” Salmon to learn “Kenny’s Secret Recipe”. The bonuses are absurdly high, but it’s clearly not the sort of thing you’ll be eating all the time.

Last, check out the hunts if you wish. Most hunts have been left to your discretion so far, but there’s one that’s worth doing here. The hunt “ The Last Spiracorns“ will see you hunting down two Duplicorns and three Spiracorns. The former have a chance to drop Sturdy Helixhorns, which are the treasure required for Cid to upgrade your Engine Blade III into an Ultima Blade. Might take a little bit of work to get, but it’s damn well worth doing, since the Ultima Blade’s attack value (364) is three times higher than any other Sword-class weapon available to you right, barring the Sword of the Wise.

Hunts - Old Lestallum

*Only available after “Malmalam Thicket”.

This all can wait a moment while you finish exploring Old Lestallum, however. Speaking of which, leave the Crow’s Nest diner and go down the street a bit to the east to find the bright red truck that can only mean one thing - another branch of the JM Market. If you buy some Fine Gighee Ham Ignis will devise the “Charcuterie on Toast” (an awfully fancy way to say cut pork on burnt bread), while purchasing an Alstroom (if you haven’t found one already) will inspire the creation of the “Triple Truffle Risotto” recipe. Buy the new soundtracks if you wish, and grab the Key Item Iron Shelf Recipes, Vol. 1, which teaches Ignis the “Egg-Fried Crustacean Bowl” recipe.

JM Market - Old Lestallum (Items)

JM Market - Old Lestallum (Ingredients)

JM Market - Old Lestallum (Treasures)

JM Market - Old Lestallum (Auto Parts)

JM Market - Old Lestallum (Key Items)

You’re done shopping here for now, but there’s still more to do, namely pick up some new side quests, and oh… is there a treat for you waiting. Continue down the road to the east a bit to reunite with… Dave! The best Final Fantasy NPC ever, the cadillac of hunters, every man wants to be him, and every woman stands in awe of his resplendant Dave-ness. Chat him up and he’ll bestow upon you the privilege of tracking down another Dog Tag. Dave is just the bee’s knees. Anyhoo, this starts the quest “A Backwoods Burial”.

The Professors Protégé - Gigantoad¶

Further east you’ll find Sania. She’s no Dave, but she’s still got some work for you, if you can be bothered. No longer will you have to muck about in search of small, colorful frogs, those days of menial labor are past. Not to say that you’re done with amphibians, however - now she tasks you with hunting down a Gigantoad! She’s even got a specific one in mind - a ways to the south, in the Malmalam Thicket. Of course, she doesn’t really care about that particular Gigantoad, she just wants some Slimy Oil, so if you’ve obtained some earlier from any another Gigantoad (which is very likely) this quest will automatically update and you can just turn in the Slimy Oil to be done with this business. If, on the other hand, you want to go down to Malmalam Thicket and complete this quest the “proper” way… well, it’ll be later in the guide, when you can properly clear the entire place in one fell swoop.

A Better Engine Blade III¶

Now that Sania has presumably been sated, it’s time to tackle another, similarly-leveled quest. This one doesn’t require you to go very far out of the way, though, or to half-plunder a dungeon. Return to the Crow’s Eye Diner and pick up the hunt “The Last Spiracorns”, then head down the road to the west, south-west until you can get around the concrete barrier to the north. Run along the top of this barrier back east along the highway and save your game when you come near the edge of a search area. Not because the Spiracorns and Duplicorns are all that strong - they’re not - but because you’re looking for a specific item here which may require some save/loading.

First, know that Spiracorns are more powerful versions of Mesmenirs, which you may have fought in the scrublands of Leide back in another life. They can charge and try to gore you with their namesake horns, or slash them about like a sword. They can also kick, particularly with their rear legs, and are prone to going into a kicking and slashing frenzy from time to time. They’re rather sturdy, but the damage they do isn’t spectacular. They’re also weak to fire, so prepare up some Fira, if possible, as it’ll make the clean-up a bit easier. Duplicorns are merely larger Spiracorns.

When you’re ready head to the center of the search area to find the small mixed herd. This fight can get a little hectic for all the wrong reasons, there’s a lot of foilage around, and the camera can really struggle to keep up at times. It doesn’t help that you have a very specific target - the horn of the Duplicorns, which you can target specifically. Do so and continuously try to Warp Strike their horn until it breaks (don’t trust the word BREAK on the screen - that could be for anything, try to get visual confirmation that it broke). When you break the horn there’s a chance that you’ll get a Sturdy Helixhorn (as opposed to the Crooked Helixhorns the Spiracorns drop when you break their horns, which obviously just won’t do) which is the item you’re looking for.

It’s not a guaranteed drop, it may take a few tries, but there some things you can do to make this less frustrating and stack the odds less in your disfavor. Preparation is key, and the first thing you can do to help yourself out is camp out and eat the “Mother & Child Rice Bowl” meal, as it increases your drop rate by 50%, as well as boosting your Hit Points, both of which may prove helpful. Next, your equipment matters: Have a Hardedge equipped as it increases your chance of destroying appendages. Last, set the game into Wait Mode instead of Active Mode, as it’ll make it easier for you to pick your target and in general just make the battle less hectic. If you don’t succeed, reload and try again, or turn the quest in, then pick the hunt up again and re-do it (albeit for considerably less cash).

It’s tedious and could take quite a few tries, but if you can get a Sturdy Helixhorn here, you might as well take it to Cid so he can upgrade your Engine Blade III. After completing some more side quests and resting for the night, return to him to obtain your new and improved Ultima Blade. If you’re having trouble with the fight or just don’t have the patience for this hunt right now, feel free to proceed however you wish. You can always come back to it later - it’s not going anywhere.

A Backwoods Burial¶

Now that Sania has presumably been sated, get in the Regalia and get Ignis to take you west, then north to the Quest Location for “A Backwoods Burial”, which takes place near a three-way fork in the highway to the north-west. It’s also close to where the Spiracorns you’re tasked with exterminating as part of the quest “Tails Spin” are lurking.

First things first, when the car stops you should be near a break in the guard rail, beyond which is a path leading to a building. When you near it, a pack of Havocfangs will emerge, providing a good clue as to what happened to this wayward hunter. Put them down and watch for their roars, then search the north-eastern end of the house to find the missing hunter’s boots, near which is his Scratched Dog Tag.

Tails Spin¶

From the barn that bore witness to the hunter’s demise trek north-west to find the naughty Spiracorns (which are more powerful versions of Mesmenir). They shouldn’t prove much of a challenge, the only complication may arise if there are Shieldshears (giant crabs) nearby, as they are rather hardy. Kill the Spiracorns then take a Supple Tail and you’ll have satisifed the vendor of Lestallum’s Culless Munitions.